Misc. – Page 24 – astroengine.com

I Wish Office Work Was This Interesting

Having just stumbled around the space blogs, I was enthusiastic that I would find some inspiration toward my next Astroengine.com article. Along the way, I found this rather entertaining short film on Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy website. As Phil points out, “black holes don’t work this way.” Although, that is a shame.

There’s a strong moral to this story: don’t photocopy alone, as you never know when your Xerox machine will print out a singularity. Well, not really, perhaps the guy should have stopped at stealing a snickers bar, a lesson we could all learn from. Actually, I might have walked off with just one wad of cash… actually, maybe two… you get the picture.

Needless to say, this isn’t actually how a black hole works… it’s not even how a wormhole would work. But take the short film at face value and get some entertainment from it, I thought it was quite good fun.

Tonight’s Astroengine Live Cancelled

It's sad, but the next show will be awesome...

Sorry everybody, but if you’re listening in to Astroengine Live for your weekly space news updates, you’ll notice a recording is currently being re-broadcast on WPRT Radio (thank you Jack!). Due to unforeseen circumstances I am currently stuck in Palm Desert and can’t return to LA in time for the show. Very frustrating, as I had a lot of Christmas goodies for you… however, they can wait until next week!

I will keep you posted about what I have planned for next week in the next couple of days. For now, check out the Astroengine Live pages, and remember, if you have any topics you want to be discussed on the show, please drop a message to astro@wprtradio.com.

Sorry for the break in service, but I’ll be back next week… For now, have a wonderful Christmas with your families and stay warm!

Cheers, Ian

Can Gravitational Waves be Used for Evil?

Theoretical gravitational waves generated after a black hole collision. Can we surf them?

Gravitational waves are a theoretical consequence of a propagating energy disturbance through space-time. They are predicted by Einstein’s general relativity equations, and astrophysicists are going to great pains to try to detect the faint signature from the passage of these waves through local space. Unfortunately, even though millions of dollars have been spent on international experiments, the gravitational wave remains in equation form; there is little (direct) evidence to support their existence.

However, this doesn’t stop the US military from worrying about them and commissioned a 40-page report into whether high frequency gravitational waves could be used by an enemy. Excuse me? Gravitational waves… as a weapon?
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Who Said Star Wars Was Dead? Introducing the Airborne Laser

A plane... with a frickin' laser attached to its head! Sorry, couldn't resist... The 747 plus ABL (USAF)

The US Air Force and a number of military contractors have successfully test-fired the first aircraft-based military laser system called the “Airborne Laser” (or ABL). Airborne Laser? Looking at the laser-touting Boeing 747 above, you’d think the USAF would have come up with a more imaginative name… Like, “Project Lightning Strike“, “Winged Overlord” or “Delta Echo Alpha Tango Hotel (DEATH)“. There’s probably some military call-sign, but on reading about the ABL, I found myself a little bored of the concept until I saw the finished product…
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Carnival of Space Week 84 – Next Big Future

Superb! Possibly for the first time ever, an Astroengine.com article features at the top of page for the Carnival of Space! Nice. It’s more than likely luck, but I really appreciate Brian Wang reading and posting my article about the Space Exploration Crisis. As it turns out, there are a few blogs that are concerned about the recent NASA turmoil, and the pressure will be on President-elect Barack Obama to enact some changes…

So, this week, be sure to check out week 84 of the Carnival of Space at Brian Wang’s Next Big Future. There are loads of space news articles from all over the web, in fact each CoS seems to be getting bigger and bigger; compiling all the submissions from the space blogosphere is no easy task. However, Brian did a great job this week, and I’ll be sure to give a rundown on some of the entries that caught my eye during Wednesday’s Astroengine Live…

Astroengine Live Notes #5: Water Interrupts Play…

Turns out cable and live radio do not mix...

I went into today’s show a little disorganized after tending to a flood in the garage. I was a little rushed to prepare all my notes, so I thought I’d do a more informal show, running through the Carnival of Space, and ending up discussing the recent Obama-NASA funding debate. Alas, things got a little worse than just wet socks. The microphone died in the first 15 seconds of the show and then my Internet connection went completely AWOL, ripping Astroengine Live from the airwaves (I was even broadcasting across Central Texas via KVMP Radio, 99.9FM!). According to my cable company, due to the adverse weather (i.e. rain. Yes, rain. Not snow, blizzards or electrical storms. Rain), cable was “patchy” in some regions.

So, no more live radio shows in the rain, then. Fortunately this is California where rain is a fleeting feature.

Anyhow, I am currently editing the show that did record my end to remove the ominous silent patch. Alas I wasn’t able to get to the meat of my discussion, and fell back on my backup instead. Oh well, more to discuss next week. Regardless of the technical issues, I hope you enjoyed this week’s show, next week will be far more polished. Thanks for tuning in!

Cheers, Ian

Astroengine Live #5: Constellation… A Bad Idea?

Sorry for the late post on today’s Astroengine Live, running woefully behind schedule. However, the show will be going live at 4pm PST/7pm EST (that’s about 2 hours from when I post this). I have some assorted news from the week’s goings on in space, so be sure to tune in. However, if you miss the live broadcast, you can catch up with all the archives soon after I’m off air, so be sure to keep an eye on the nifty radio player on the Astroengine Live pages. A special thanks goes to John Greenewald at Black Vault Radio for hosting my shows and making my archives a reality!

There isn’t a specific theme for today’s show, but no doubt I’ll be having a rant about NASA funding, so I’ll be discussing the recent articles I’ve written on the subject. There is actually a live teleconference today at 4pm EST at NASA HQ discussing the progress of Constellation, so I’ll try to bring you updates from that if and when I get them… why do I get the feeling it’s not going to be pretty…?

Anyhow, I’ll give a rundown of all the space news, plus the Carnival of Space. I’ll also be giving a rundown of the activities of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) who are doing an astounding job keeping their eyes on those variable stars. I hope to do an interview with Mike Simonsen who has been a member of the AAVSO for many years in the future to get an idea about what his job entails…

Get Involved!

Have any articles or stories you want to contribute? Have an opinion on anything in the world of space? Email me on astro@wprtradio.com and I’ll be sure to give it a mention. Eventually, I hope to have telephone call-ins, but for now, email will do.

Listen to Astroengine Live using your default streaming audio player.

Introducing the Exomoon, and Detecting them via Exoplanet Wobble

Exomoon: The natural satellite of an exoplanet.

Before today, I hadn’t heard anything about the possibility of looking for moons orbiting planets in other star systems. Sorry, exomoons orbiting exoplanets in other star systems. But a British astronomer has calculated that it is possible to not only detect exomoons, but it is possible to deduce their distance from the parent exoplanet and their mass.

All this is done by measuring the exoplanet’s “wobble”; a practice more commonly used in the pursuit of the exoplanets themselves. By detecting the wobble of distant stars, the gravitational pull of the exoplanet becomes obvious. The same can be done with exoplanets, possibly revealing the presence of Earth-like exomoons.

Of the 300+ exoplanets discovered, 30 are within the habitable zones of their stars. If these large gas giant exoplanets (usually several times the mass of Jupiter) have an exoplanet system of their own, these exomoons also fall within the habitable zone…

Makes you think, doesn’t it?

For the full article, check out Astronomers Now Looking For Exomoons Around Exoplanets on the Universe Today…